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The industry lobbied to change the law, promoting the adoption of traffic statutes to supplant common law. The statutes were designed to restrict pedestrian use of the street and give primacy to cars. The idea of "jaywalking” – a concept that had not really existed prior to 1920 – was enshrined in law.
One of my favorite places in Vancouver is the Granville Island Market, a small island under a bridge with a collection of markets and shops for local artisans and farmers. The populace descends on the market by foot, bike and car, and it always irritated me that they didn't instead dedicate the island to just pedestrians and bicycles. But perhaps it is a good thing that cars are forced to negotiate and yield to everyone else. Traffic always moves slowly, people take precedent, parking is a bit of a struggle, but for the most part everyone gets what they want.